Find a tower. Block off all possible entrypoints while making new, hidden ones, amass a group of people I can both easily control and otherwise order around, and ask them all one very simple question: If you get bitten, do you think you can survive? Anyone who answers yes is immediately shot.

But you can set yourself up as a despot. Whip up their fear(and with the DEAD COMING TO LIFE, that shouldn't require too much effort) present yourself as a bastion of stability, and ride the madness. Will probably end poorly, but life is short. Live it up.

The original zombies (I'm talking Romero, not the voodoo zombi of the black and white era) were the result of chemical contamination in the water cycle, the modern introduction of a virus is one of those twists you mention. Introduced specifically so that there could be hope of stopping the outbreak.

The CDC, army, civilian militias, etc. could easily stop a modern-style horde provided they acted quickly enough and followed common sense anti-contamination protocols. But what could they do if the horde multiplied every time it rained? Or if it was in the groundwater and every corpse buried in the last month or so got up at once?

Not to mention, what makes you think there will be electricity? What makes you think your car will make it to the store through the hordes of zombies? Hell, whats to stop the zombies from getting in your house while you're playing the game?

I have a ton of food stored up (just in general, not specifically for a zombie apocalypse), and a gun. I live near a gun store and three supermarkets. First, I'm going to become friends with the gun store guy. Because you know who is not going to be overrun by the crowd attacking his shop? Steal what I can from the supermarkets, and head back to my neighborhood and break into the storage yard behind my house. It has a seven foot fence all the way around and three gates as well as several shelters usable for hiding or living. When the food runs out (which should take decades given the sheer number of houses and stores), go start a farm on the land that's across the street. Better yet, start it at the beginning just in case. Then, just sit back and wait for the military.

Watch on the news how a minor outbreak at the hospital was quickly shut down by a SWAT team, call everyone that I know to make sure they weren't there, then be a bit more vigilant the next couple weeks til the CDC or whatever announces that the situation has been dealt with. Zombies really aren't that threatening.

This is assuming Romero-style zombies; shamblers with contagious bites that come in hordes. Fast, smart, or otherwise variant walking dead would require different approaches

Short term: Move into the apartment over my workshop. It's acceptably furnished, has a wood-burning stove, easy access to a diesel generator, and tons of storage/materials/tools downstairs. The shop itself is fairly defensible, I'd have to do some barricading on the garage door that takes up one wall, but the apartment will be zombie proof as soon as I tear down the stairs and replace with a ladder I can pull up behind me.

Mid term: I'd be far enough away from population centers that the initial hordes shouldn't be a concern. But close enough that scavenging trips on foot or bicycle would be easy. Also, the building looks long-derelict at a glance. Any raiders or desperate survivors wouldn't look twice as long as I stay careful. Set up lure traps using wind-chimes or solar-powered speakers in a 1/4 to 1 1/2 mile perimeter. Object is not so much to kill zombies as get them to congregate anywhere but my front door. Staggered distance to prevent remaining people from figuring out a pattern that would help them locate me.

Long term: Clear out nearby spaces and establish a zombie-free zone with multiple defensible fall-back locations in case of breach. Methodically push back the perimeter. Recruit other survivors with extreme caution, people are a far bigger threat than zombies at this point. Farming will start being a concern about 4-5 years out, depending on just how many people are still surviving.